Self Service Workflow (Direct Validation)

Self Service is an enhancement to the DSR processing workflow that enables Data Privacy Officers (DPOs) to validate attributes directly without requiring input from Data Source Owners (DSOs) through tickets. This feature is particularly useful when DPOs have comprehensive knowledge of all organizational data sources or when expedited processing is required.

Integration with Existing Workflow

The Self Service validation seamlessly integrates with the standard DSR process:

1. The workflow steps remain the same (Verification and Approval → Data Discovery and Validation → Report)

2. The differences are in the Data Discovery and Validation step, where DPOs can now handle validation directly

3. The report generation and closure steps remain unchanged

When the Self Service approach is used, the status progression shows:

1. Request Approved

2. Data Validated (bypassing the ticket assignment and DSO validation phase)

3. Report Ready

Benefits of Self Service

The Self Service approach offers several advantages:

1. Reduced Processing Time: Eliminate waiting periods for DSO responses

2. Simplified Workflow: Handle the entire validation process directly

3. Greater Control: DPOs maintain oversight of the entire validation process

4. Flexibility: Use the traditional ticketing workflow for complex cases and Self Service for straightforward requests

5. Consistent Documentation: The audit trail and reporting remain comprehensive and compliant with regulations

The Self Service feature significantly enhances the efficiency of processing Data Subject Requests by enabling DPOs to validate attributes directly. This approach reduces dependencies and accelerates the DSR fulfillment process while maintaining compliance with data protection regulations.

Use Case Example

Scenario: A data subject submits a request to access their personal information stored across multiple systems.

Traditional Approach:

1. DPO verifies data subject's identity

2. System discovers data across various sources

3. DPO creates tickets for each data source owner

4. DSOs validate information and respond to tickets

5. DPO reviews responses, generates report, and closes request

Self Service Approach:

1. DPO verifies data subject's identity

2. System discovers data across various sources

3. DPO directly validates all discovered attributes using Self Service

4. DPO adds any missing attributes manually

5. DPO generates report and closes request

The Self Service approach eliminates waiting for DSO responses, potentially reducing processing time from days to hours while maintaining complete compliance documentation.

Accessing Self Service

After completing the Data Discovery process, you will notice a banner at the top of the screen explaining that data validation can now be performed directly without relying on the ticketing flow.

Fig. 1. Self Service - Banner Notification

The banner presents several options for handling the DSR:

• Do everything yourself - Go to the instances detected and validated section and verify each one, add the appropriate action/remark and mark them as validated.

• Add collaborators (on per data source basis) - Take help from other members in the organization, expand the data sources section and assign each data source to someone where they can verify and take actions on the attributes.

• LightBeam automation - Allow LightBeam to automatically verify data and/or take necessary actions on each attribute. This can be done by setting up an automated workflow for each request type.

• Combination of one or more - You can also do a combination of the above options on a per data source basis.

There is an option to "Don't show this message again" for a cleaner interface once you're familiar with the feature.

Self Service Interface

Below the traditional ticketing section, you'll find the Self Service validation section which displays detected and validated attributes.

The interface shows a comprehensive list with the header: "Data Instances detected and validated: List of all attribute instances automatically detected by LightBeam and validated by the system or different users. Review and proceed to report generation."

Below this, you'll see text explaining: "We have detected the following instances for this data subject in this data source. You can validate each instance and mark it with the appropriate action / remark."

Direct Attribute Management

Adding Attributes Manually

You can add attributes that may not have been detected by the system:

1. Click the "Add Attributes Manually" button in the top-right corner of the attributes list

2. In the dialog that appears, you have two options:

   • Add Manually: Manually enter all details for the attribute

   • Upload Files: Upload a file and let the system detect attributes

3. To add an attribute manually:

   1. Select a Data Source from the dropdown (e.g., gdrive, one-drive, outlook)

   2. Select an Attribute type (e.g., UserId, Password, Postal/Zip Code)

   3. Enter the Attribute value (e.g., "101010")

   4. Click the "Add" button

1. After adding the attribute, it will appear in the "Attributes Added" section, showing:

• Attribute type

• Identifier

• Data Source

• Actions dropdown

You can set the appropriate action for the attribute (e.g., "Data match found") and add any additional remarks. When finished, click "Save & Go back" to return to the main attributes list.

Viewing and Managing Attributes

The main attribute list displays:

• Attribute type (Name, UserId, Postal/Zip Code, etc.)

• Identifier (values partially masked for privacy)

• Data source (with corresponding icons)

• Action/Remark status

• Validation Status (showing who validated each attribute)

Bulk Validation of Attributes

For efficient processing of multiple attributes:

1. Select the checkboxes next to the attributes you want to validate

2. Click the "Mark as validated" button that appears above the attribute list Show Image

3. In the dialog that appears, select the appropriate action/remark (e.g., "Data match found")

4. Add any additional remarks in the text field

All selected attributes will be updated with the chosen action and your validation status.

Individual Attribute Actions

For each attribute, you can select an appropriate action from the dropdown menu, such as:

• Data match found

• Attribute updated

• Attribute value not found

• Data no longer exists

Managing Large Attribute Sets

Filtering Capabilities

To efficiently handle numerous attributes, the Self Service section provides robust filtering options:

1. Attribute Type Filter: Click on the "Attribute Type" dropdown to see and select specific attribute types

1. Data Source Filter: Filter attributes by their source systems

1. Validation Status Filter: View only validated or unvalidated attributes

1. Action/Remark Filter: Filter by the action that has been applied

1. All Filters: Click the funnel icon to access a comprehensive filter panel where you can apply multiple filters simultaneously

Remove Duplicates

The interface includes functionality to remove duplicate attributes:

1. Click the "Remove Duplicates" button in the top-right corner

1. In the dialog, select the columns where you want the system to detect duplicate values:

• Attribute

• Identifier

• Data Source

1. Click "Remove Duplicates" to execute the operation

After removing duplicates, the system will update the view and show a notification that duplicates have been removed. The interface will indicate which columns were used for duplicate detection (e.g., "Remove Duplicates (Based on 1 Columns)").

This removal is for viewing purposes only and does not affect the actual report generation until you explicitly exclude attributes from the report.

Report Customization

After validating all attributes, you can proceed to the report generation phase:

1. Click "Save and Proceed" at the bottom of the attribute list

1. The system will update the status to "Data Validated" and you'll be taken to the Report section

2. To customize which attributes appear in the report, click "Customize Instances Included in Report"

1. In the dialog, you can select or deselect specific attributes to include in the final report.

1. After making your selections, click "Save and Go Back"

The customization allows you to control exactly which data elements are included in the final DSR report. You can see a preview of the report data in the "Data Collected" section, which shows all attribute types and their corresponding values.

If you decide to exclude all attributes from a particular category, the report will show "0 Data Collected" and "No results found" for that section.